Three Odisha doctors charged in Pipli gangrape case

Odisha Police have filed a charge sheet in a local court against three doctors, including a hospital chief, for allegedly neglecting treatment of a woman who was gangraped Nov 28 last year, an official said today.

It was the fourth charge sheet the crime branch of the state police has submitted in the court of the judicial magistrate at Pipli in Puri district, nearly 20 km from here, in the gangrape of a 19-year-old woman Nov 28 last year.

The crime branch had earlier filed charge sheets against many people, including the four who allegedly gangraped the woman and against a police officer who did not take immediate action as in-charge of a local police station.

The latest charge sheet was filed Tuesday against DN Moharana, superintendent of Sriram Chandra Bhanja (SCB) Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack, Milan Mitra and KC Sahu, both doctors at a hospital in Bhubaneswar, a senior official of the crime branch said.

"They have been charged under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocity) Act," he added.

The woman was allegedly gangraped by some people near her village Arjunagoda, 10 km from Bhubaneswar, Nov 28 last year. The doctors have been accused of denying her proper treatment.

The crime branch has so far arrested four people in the case. It filed its first charge sheet against the arrested people in March but said that there was no evidence of rape.

However, according to the woman's family, she was gangraped by a group of men who had earlier assaulted her in 2008 and against whom she had filed a molestation case.

The incident came to light when the woman was denied proper treatment at a hospital.

The case had also created a political storm, prompting Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy to resign Jan 19 on moral grounds after the opposition and the girl's family alleged that he was protecting the accused.

The incident is being investigated by the crime branch and a one-man judicial commission headed by a retired judge of the Orissa High Court.